Week 4 (11 to 12
weeks)
As we're still mostly working on the same old things, just adding more
tricks, I can list some of the tricks we're working on now as those are
the first tricks I start with the puppy:
1. thinking, free-shaping tricks: putting a bowl one into
another, getting into and onto objects and all tricks listed under "body
awareness" are all free-shaped
2. luring tricks: figure 8 around my legs, left&right, cik&cap
3. body awareness: backing up, circling an object with
hind feet when front feet are on an object, putting all four feet in a
box that is gradually getting smaller and smaller (my Goldfish tricks if
you watched the wannabe video:), 2on2off, heaving any of the four feet
4. no fear and balance: making a plastic cover with a soft
cloth underneath move, getting on a sofa pillow, chewing a bone on an
exercise ball
5. just for fun: touching my hands or legs or any other
object with front feet - one, another or both, crossing front feet,
touching things with the nose
We still spend most of the time just playing and in between do some
luring tricks. For every meal, four times a day, we play some shaping
games. That means 10 to 15 minutes of clicking&treating four times a day
- apart from that, I use toys as rewards.
She is a quick learner, she learned to put one bowl into another in like 6 sessions, 2on2off from both directions (going on a pillow and off, leaving rear feet on it + going directly on backwards with just rear feet) in 2 sessions, circling an object with hind feet in 1 session etc. And yes, I promise to do another video soon!
Week 3 (10 to 11 weeks)
Still working on the same old things, gradually adding some more
challenges.
1. playing&running, including recalls, retrieving and
tugging is still our major focus. In between playing, we also do some of
the tricks she already knows to some degree (back, sit, heel) and some
luring tricks (figure 8 between my legs, left&right, cik&cap).
2. shaping games - I handfeed my puppies, playing shaping
games to teach them to use their mind and body. We're working on getting
onto and into different objects, putting one bowl into another etc. In
general, I click everything that is either going in the right direction
or is cute or shows lots of self-initiative. My goal is not as
much to teach her that or another thing, but to teach her that learning
is fun and that she is the boss; to help her grow up in a confident,
coordinated and happy dog. And even though she is not very food
motivated, she loves those games as they make her feel really proud of
herself.
3. different environments - we're still going to lots of
different enviroments to get her used to everything and do some playing
and tricks wherever we are. She was somewhat shy at the beginning, but
by now, I can say she is equally confident, playfull and focused no
matter where we are, in the middle of barking dogs on agility training,
in the city center, train station or in the middle of the woods. She
might still react to some things at first (like to the shooting the
other day in the woods), but recovers immediately and is ready to play
again.
For everybody asking how many tricks she knows: none. You probably got
the wrong impression, judging from the number of tricks my dogs know,
but I'm really not obsessed by teaching my puppies that or another thing.
Knowing a trick is not my goal at all, I just love the process of
teaching it, learning about how my dog thinks. As I said, I teach many
different things all at the same time and while she is offering many
different behaviours already, we have none on a cue just yet. No, not
even a sit! O.k., well, I admit, she knows "Bi" that means "come" and
"go" that means "RUN, it's a play time!". All other things will come,
she is 11 weeks people!
Also, there were many questions on how I get that bond with my dogs, if
I do any specific exercises with my puppies etc. But well, I guess that
the definition of the bond is that there is no formula for it...
There is no exercise for bonding, that's the whole beauty of it! You can't
force it, it's just something that happens somewhere on the way, while
playing, doing tricks, whatever. No magic formula for it.
Week 2 (9 to 10 weeks)
1. playing is fun - playing is still our major focus. To make it more fun, we also put a spin to the left or right in it or chasing a toy around dog food container (future cik&cap) here and there. As we will hopefully do frisbee too one day, I also throw some puppy rollers for her - using a soft, slow, fleece frisbee of course.
2. learning to use those legs and brain - we're starting
with shaping games. Learning shaping, using her body and interaction
with objects all at the same time. She has no problems interacting with
boxes, drawers, a big ball and a puppy "see-saw", a cover of a plastic
box with a rolled piece of cloth underneath (see the end of the
video).
3. socialization - she comes with me everywhere I go - to
city center, shopping, to competitions and classes to get used to all
kind of people and dogs. She is a little bit shy around new dogs at
first, but soon starts to play. And, she absolutely loves all people,
especially little kids.
Of course, we're also still playing in puddles, she actually already did
some swimming and we do two or three short sprints with playing after it
every day. I think that's her favourite part!
And, to answer some frequent questions: Bi is pronounced as "bee". And
no, I don't think females are better for agility or whatever. My first
dog was a male, but then, when getting a PyrShep, female was a much
safer way to go as far as their height is concerned, considering their
standard height and cut off for medium class - especially as when I was
getting Lo, she needed to be under 40cm or she would have to jump
65cm... And as they're not spayed, it's just easier to add another
female, that's all.
I'm also adding some pictures and a presentation video.
For week 1 (8 to 9 weeks), the most important lessons we took were:
1. playing is fun - we play a lot anywhere we go. At the
same time, we're also working on recalls, retrieving and of course,
building confidence - yeap, she is the winner. Always.
2. running is fun - in between playing, we also do some short sprints, to make her love to run just for the sake of running. She seems to love it already and sure amazes me with how fast those little puppy legs can go!
3. water is fun - no connection with agility with this one, just my personal obsession:). Hopefully, she will be swimming with me one day. For now, we just play in puddles:).
And I think HER major goal for this
week was to jump on a sofa. It didn't look too good at the beginning but
in the last hour of her first week, she finally completed her master
plan and got to that sofa! She was very proud of that one! Yeah, she
gets really wild in the evenings, you can watch her for hours and just
laugh. She really fits in with my biorhythm just great! She even takes her time
before really waking up, I joke she is low-pressure, just as me:).
She is a really great pup and also fits in with other dogs just great -
so far, with every new puppy, I felt like having way too many dogs to
handle, but with her, it seems like she is here since ever. Without even
trying, she knows that biting La or jumping on her is not a good idea,
but that she can afford that with Bu. Her favourite is still La, she
follows her everywhere, but obviously she knows very well what La's
distance requirements are.
We also spend lots of time going to different places. She is a little
bit shy in new enviroments, so for now, she is mostly in her sherpa bag
that allows her to observe the world from a safe place. Of course, she
also already knows what the sound of the clicker means and she is a
great traveller, no problems in a car. By now, she also sleeps the whole
night, no potty breaks during the night anymore.
She is really lots of fun, such a cool pup!
Bi, 9 weeks
I'll also be adding a video, but for now, just some more photos